Dear Miss Blackwood,
I am pleased to inform you that your observations regarding the practice of bloodletting have proven most valuable in my recent investigation.
An article discussing the matter has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Practical Medicine. Unfortunately, I regret that I am unable to acknowledge your contribution publicly at this stage. As you may understand, such claims require further supporting evidence before they can be attributed to an unknown correspondent.
Should future observations continue to support your conclusions, I would be delighted to maintain our correspondence.
Yours sincerely,
Dr. Charles Bennett
The received letter was short and precise, reflecting her sender personality. Joan smiled faintly as she folded the letter once more. She had never expected the doctor to even consider acknowledging her. In a profession as hierarchical as medicine, the opinion of an unknown trainee nurse carried little weight. The fact that he had thought about it at all was generous enough.
Putting the letter aside, Joan took another fork of her pie, looking out of the shop window. After several weekends spent wandering through different cafés and tea houses, Joan had quietly settled on this one as her favourite.
Taking her last sip of coffee, Joan grabbed her bag, slipped the mail in it before heading out of the door, leaving behind a ringing tone.
Growing bored of the freezing park in the last few weekends, Joan decided to stay at the library this time. Though she didn't want a ride, as the weather is usually shiny and warm today.
Walking through the streets and alleys with steady steps, Joan felt like another added piece to the growing ground of these times. Though she has some value it's not a ground breaking one. No matter how bright a future this country holds, the working class is still uneducated, hungry and desperate. Of course, the difference between the working class and the wealthy one may not lessen by much in the near future or even after a hundred years, but still eating ramen as a broke man is much better than eating a stiff bread or not eating at all.
Strangely, no one here thinks about tomorrow. People walk with their heads bowed, burdened by a peculiar apathy, neither expecting improvement nor fearing collapse; they believe this misery is the only constant. They don't know if the world will soon erupt in a war that consumes everything, or if the coming years will bring a frenzied boom, with cities overflowing with money, before they plummet back into the depths of a great depression that leaves them homeless. They live with a silent psychological complexity, the complexity of those who cannot afford the luxury of looking ahead, because their present is heavy enough to kill any hope for the future.
Using what little free time she has, Joan decided to enrich herself with new knowledge, these thoughts might not be born from a consistent habit before her time travel, with her hectic schedule as an ER nurse she doesn't even have time to watch her favourite show, it's more the demand has increased for a need that has become difficult to meet.unlike now, Before coming here, knowledge had always been only a few taps away. Whenever a question crossed her mind, she could search for the answer within seconds, often forgetting it just as quickly. Here, every answer demanded time, patience, and effort. Ironically, that difficulty made knowledge feel far more valuable.
After some contemplation, Joan found herself stopping in front of the Economics and Accounting section, choosing a book with the title "Bookkeeping and accounting" printed on its cover. Understanding money was essential if she ever wished to escape poverty, especially needed when she opens her own business later on. That is right, despite her empty wallet, Joan already had this thought in the back of her head. With the deterioration of living and medical conditions in this era, being poor could lead to one's own death if not careful, the already scarce resources are only in the hands of the rich and able ones. She has no dreams of swimming in milk and honey, all she wants is enough security to stand firmly on her own feet in a world where she does not belong.
Have some thought about Joan's future, share it in the comments 💭